Post Surgery Recovery Tips

Healing after surgery is a relatively straightforward process if you are willing to follow your doctor’s instructions and ease yourself back into a normal routine. Serious procedures will obviously take longer so you really need to be conscientious about your post-operative care and healing. We are all tempted to expedite the process by getting back to work before we’re ready and exercising or moving about more than the advice would allow. Boredom and impatience is often the enemy of the patient.

Listening to your doctor is probably the most important thing to do after surgery. You shouldn’t take the advice you like and disregard the rest. It’s all given for good reason. It’s not in your doctor’s interest to slow things down. They may be concerned about things that aren’t always obvious to us.

The risks of infection

A postoperative wound is susceptible to infection so everything that you can do to reduce the risk is important. Inspect your wound to check on its condition and colour and you should be even more diligent about washing your hands consistently. You should always keep your wound clean and dry.

Diet and hydration

Eating might be one of the last things you feel like doing after surgery but it actually plays a really important role in the healing and recovery process. A healthy, balanced diet can minimise a number of digestive complications associated with surgery. A healthy diet can also help you to get past the sometimes lingering effects of pain medication and anesthesia.

Pain management

Pain management plays a vital role in the recovery process. Aside from the importance of being comfortable post surgery, your pain medication helps you to avoid other illnesses like pneumonia which can occur if you are in too much pain to cough or clotting if you can’t walk. Taking pain medication in the way it’s described keeps the pain at a tolerable level so you can get plenty of sleep which is one of the best post-operative remedies of all.

Cryotherapy

One remedy that you may not have considered but probably should is a whole body cryotherapy treatment. Cryotherapy can send fresh oxygenated and blood to the wound to help in recovering from surgery faster and accelerate healing. Cryotherapy after surgery can also reduce bruising and inflammation.